Why Learn Python?

Here at Showmedo we're pretty passionate about the Python programming language. The site is built using a Python Web-development framework and both founders have used Python as their language of choice over many years. We believe Python to be the most effective and efficient programming language around and, straight out of the box, it can solve most problems you can think of. There's a reason Google use it as one of their main development languages.

As a member of Showmedo's club we hope to introduce you gently but enthusiastically to Python and foster what we're sure will be a very profitable relationship.

What Do I Get For My Subscription?

Our Python Programming Collection

If you are a new to Python, our 50 video Beginner Set is the place to start. These video-tutorials aim to get you up and running in Python, fast and efficiently.

Beginning Python With Showmedo

With 41 video-tutorials and over 3 hours of material, Ian Oszvald's large Python Beginners Collection takes you very gently from an introduction to the look and feel of Python through to the main elements needed to start programming productively. The series has received some glowing testimonials and is a great way to kickstart your Python programming career.

Python comes with 'Batteries Included', meaning you get some hugely useful libraries out of the box. Lucas Holland's series covers basic usage for each of the main included Python libraries. It is a great accompaniment to 'Python Beginners' as well as being a useful reference work in its own right.

As you start to become comfortable with Python, a great way to expand your skill is to see simple application development in action. Over 30 video-tuorials our two intermediate series show how to build simple, fully-working GUIs from scratch.

Developing Your Python Programming Skills

Aimed at Python Beginner Programmers, Python 101 - easygui and csv is a fully-worked series which shows how to build a complete application with a User Interface over the course of 17 gentle videos. It covers use of the comma-separated-values (csv) module, reading and writing files, handling exceptions and giving useful error messages. It also focusses on using test-driven development, automated-testing and refactoring to create more robust and reliable programs.

Want to learn wxPython? Want a fully-worked example which leads you through to a working program? Want some exercises (with solutions!) which test your growing knowledge? Here we build a wxPython-based Image Viewer over 14 video-tutorials and at the end of the series you will be able to build your own wxPython applications.

Programming is about solving real problems in the real world. As your Python skills develop we have video-series that introduce you to some of the practical areas where Python's power starts to shine and you can reap the benefits of its power and efficiency. We have 40 further videos demonstrating Python's practical power and applicability to real-world problems.

Further Progress With Python

For example, Python has a powerful library (DBAPI) for dealing with all the common databases, e.g. MySQL, PostgresSQL, MS-SQL, Oracle and others. In this series we show you what the DBAPI is, a bit of how it works, and how it can be used to connect Python programs to SQL databases. We demonstrate how existing databases can be accessed and used and how Python can create new databases, add tables and populate those tables with data.

We have a number of series aimed at introducing you to Web-development with Python, starting with John Montgomery's Introduction to Python Web-programming and the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) module. The CGI is at the heart of many well-known Python Web-frameworks, including the Google-App-Engine SDK, for which we have a gentle introduction.

For those programming in a Windows environment, we have a couple of series tailored to using Python on XP. We cover specific issues related to the operating-system and use of the rather cool pyWin32 module to talk Windows COM-enabled programs, using the Excel spreadsheet as an example.

(Bonus) Our Open-office Migration Collection

As programmers, we often have to make use of office software and the open-source world provides a very powerful and completely free set of office applications with OpenOffice, a suite which has been refined over the course of a decade and rivals in functionality the much less free Microsoft Office.

In this collection we focus on showing you how to migrate from Microsoft Office to OpenOffice, a free (as in beer), open-source alternative. We cover the four main components of OpenOffice, word-processor, spreadsheet, powerpoint and database.

Joining the Club

Access to all the club content for a year, to download and watch at your leisure or watch on the site, is available with a single payment of $29. As well as access to all the existing video-tutorials above, you will also get to watch all videos we produce in that year and benefit from club-specific improvements.

*as a club member your queries get first priority from Showmedo, as do any requests or recommendations you make for videos you would like to see.

Why are we doing this?

We're passionate about sharing our hard-won knowledge - you get to benefit from our years of experience
as we quickly teach you great new skills.

By subscribing you help to support our time and that lets us create more free videos about
cool Python tools. Not only do you help us to benefit the entire community, you also benefit as we
get to keep the site Ad-free.

Does the subscriber-only archive just grow?

Rather than let the archive grow indefinitely we think it is more beneficial to the community if
the older Subscriber-only videos are released for free into the general ShowMeDo pool. These releases
will typically occur after a year or so.

By Subscribing you get access to all of the latest Subscriber-only videos and you'll be supporting our
efforts to better-document great Python tools which benefits the whole community.

Money back guarantee?

We offer a money-back guarantee. If you're not happy with the tutorials that we produce then
get in contact and tell us that you want a
refund on the remainder of your subscription - we'll sort it out quickly.

Your Subscription lets you (and just you):

License

ask questions and leave feedback via Comments

login and view all of the Subscriber-only videos

download the videos for off-line personal use

NOTE - you must not upload the videos to video-sharing websites

Problems with registration?

First - ask for a password reminder. If that doesn't work then mail 'admin AT showmedo.com' and we'll sort you out.

Showmedo is a peer-produced video-tutorials and screencasts site for free
and open-source software (FOSS)- with the exception of some club
videos, the large majority are free to watch and download.

Educating the Open-source Community With Showmedo

Although as important as the software it supports, education
and documentation are relatively neglected in the Open-source
world. Coders love to code, and explaining how best to use or
improve the software tends to be deferred or even
sidelined.

At Showmedo we believe the community can play a vital role
here and also say thanks for the tools and software that make
our lives easier. If you have a piece of software you love or a
programming langugage you are enthusiastic about, why not make
a screencast showing others how to use it? All the stuff you
wish you'd been told, the tips, tricks, insights that would
have saved you time and frustration.

Screencasting is easier than you think, and we're happy to
help you. You can
emailus for
advice or just use some of the how-to screencasts on the site.
This
screencasting learning-pathis a
good place to start.

Testimonials

As Ian says somewhere, he's found, organized, and presented information that would take weeks or months to learn in the ordinary way. Even if your time is worth only $10 per hour, I figure the value in time saved is at least $800. The skills are priceless.

Although I have the basics in Java,I must say the tutorials on this site are truly out of this world!My python knowledge and competence surpasses my Java by far and yet I've only recently started on python. ... In just a couple of days these tutorials have got me writing my own programs and they actually work (my programs that is)!

This is an excellent tutorial screencast. Not only is the presentation very professional and well paced, you're also a very, very good teacher. ... VERY, VERY good job, I'd say one of the, if not the best tutorial video and series available on ShowMeDo today.

I don't know how you explain this any better. I've learned a lot about debugging code. The ability to print the code, go through it and then go back and review the screencast makes understanding what's going on, easier. Thanks.

This is another great session. Lots of information (including links) to get started with unittest. The focus to teach TDD method is very important and beyond python. Great work, Ian. Hope more is coming.I will surely recommend this series/site to my friends.

I had 3 requirements in mind when decided to look for a Python tutorial...Having completed this series I am glad to say that it is certainly meets all my requirements and above! Thank you Ian for a great course and I certainly [am] going to continue my Python studies with your other series

CLUB SHOWMEDO

Are you learning Python? To keep the site running clean and ad-free we've started Club ShowMeDo. The club will allow you access to some special videos we're making to pass on programming skills we consider important to the development and enjoyment of Free Open Source Software (FOSS).

The focus at the moment is on developing with the Python programming language, one of the backbones of the FOSS movement with a huge number of included and third-party libraries.

THANKS

Feedback

Showmedo's development is fairly rapid and bugs will inevitably creep in. If you have any problems please drop us a line using the contact address below. Likewise, any suggestions for improvements to the site are gratefully received.